Ann Arbor house being transformed into refuge for members of evicted homeless camps

"This project is way more awesome than I could every hope or imagine."

At the end of a shady dirt road in Ann Arbor, a refuge for the homeless is taking shape.

The address says Stone School Road, but someone driving north or south on that road near Interstate 94 would probably drive right by the MISSION Mercy House.

There’s a second Stone School Road just off the main, paved one between the freeway and Champagne Drive. On Saturday, the house at the end was a construction site with a mix of church volunteers, homeless advocates and the homeless themselves building a deck, planting a garden and adding a coat of a distinctive purple to the outside.

People living on the streets, in their cars or in tents in the woods can come to the house to shower, take a nap and wash their clothes.

“It’s very difficult to find places to take a shower and do laundry,” Lynch said. “It’s exhausting to sleep on the sidewalk, so they can come in and take a nap.”

Lynch started using her own Ann Arbor home as a “hospitality house” when Camp Take Notice was evicted two summers ago. But the non-profit collected enough donations to buy the house and property.

The house, which was a foreclosure, had been “left to rot,” according to Tim Green, one of the home’s four official residents. It needed a lot of work and still needs a lot of work, he added.

“(It’s been) hectic,” said Green, who moved in about three months ago. “It was run down. We had to deal with a lot of plumbing. We pulled out five Dumpsters (of trash). But it’s getting there.”

Green was just one of a dozen people working on the house Saturday. He was painting a peak while church volunteers built a three-tiered deck in the front and worked in the yard.

“The rewards from the investment that they’re putting in are going to be extremely large,” said Alaina Engdahl, a volunteer from the First Presbyterian who was working in the garden. “It’s a worthwhile effort.”

Fixing the house up is just the first phase, however. The plan is to clean up the wooded and brushy land beyond the creek that cuts through the property to make way for “tiny houses,” Lynch said.

The organizers are envisioning something like Camp Take Notice -- a self-governing, democratic community for the homeless – but more permanent.

The “tiny houses” likely wouldn’t have any running water or electricity, but the members of the camp could use the house, according to Lynch.

The idea would have to be approved by the city, however, Lynch added.

Bill Birdsall, a retired social work professor at the University of Michigan, said he’s been wanting to be a part of buying a house and turning it into a refuge for the homeless for years.

“I’m very incredibly pleased,” he said.

Gordon Smith, who showed up at Camp Take Notice a week before it was evicted, was also a member of Camp Misfit, another encampment for homeless that was evicted.

He said he’s been living in a tent, but now he is in charge of a lot of the kitchen duties at the Mercy House.

“This project is way more awesome than I could every hope or imagine,” he said

John Counts covers crime and breaking news for The Ann Arbor News. He can be reached at johncounts@mlive.com or you can follow him on Twitter. Find all Washtenaw County crime stories here.